If you’ve got a child of a certain age you’ll be familiar with the ‘I don’t want to go in the buggy’/Walk five minutes down the road/’I’m really tired. Carry me!’ scenario. It isn’t always practical to lug a back carrier around with you, or your child might have outgrown it. We quite often end up putting Kitty on our shoulders, which is not only painful after a while (she is a giant) but, more often than not, results in muddy shoes all over your clothes.
The Hopp offers a great alternative solution to straining your back/arm/hip. It’s essentially a cross between a back carrier and a piggyback, except that your child stands. You wear a harness which distributes your child’s weight evenly, and your child wears a bright red mini backpack (big hit with our guys) that attaches to safety straps on the harness. They then just walk onto the stirrup step and hold onto your shoulders – their head is next to yours, so it’s easy to have a good old chat and it’s suitable for children from two to six years old – I was dubious that an older child would want to use it, but, in fact, Alfie has loved having a go with the one we were sent to test (see above).
We were first flyered about Hopp at the Brighton Children’s Parade and I think it’s perfect for events like that, when you really could lose your child in a matter of moments and also, it’s obviously ideal for festivals, enabling your child to see the acts from the same height as you, then packing down into the small pouch which weighs less than 1kg. It retails at £120, which, although it sounds a lot, given its longevity from two to six, is a good investment.
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